The Legend of the Lost Song of the Forest
by Oryanna
Summary: The Hero was a failure. Lord Ganon is the one true ruler of Hyrule and has been for generations. To live under his rule is no life at all, but to oppose him means certain death. Main character is OC.
1. Chapter 1

Note from the author: Just a warning, I am not one hundred percent loyal to the Zelda mythology throughout the story and I make up quite a few things here and there. Also, this story is a bit dark at times, so if you're looking for some sunshine, it might be a bit cloudy here.

Prelude: Malon the Traitor

The caravan did not meet any resistance hitting the last trail marker, the body of Malon the Defiant. Her official name was actually Malon the Traitor. Her petrified remains were still sitting atop her horse, wooden sword held high, sitting in the middle of a sea of iron swords, helmets, and bones. Her posture was strong, sure, confident. She was a highly revered as a hero by the Hyrulian people, but to say so out loud would be heresy.

But Malon's face… her eyebrows were pinched in concern, her eyes starting to tear up. It gave Laurel an uneasy feeling. It was even more unnerving than the small patch of grass at her horse's feet that continued to grow in the Hyrulian Wasteland.

The sun was blotted out by clouds by day. The entirety of Hyrule Field was dirt with skeletons of once great trees. The ground was spongey. You could never quite get a proper strong footing on the field and if you stood still for too long, you would slowly sink into the ground. Wagon wheels had to be built wide like snowshoes to traverse the rolling hills.

Despite not having any sun, a small spot of grass grew at the feet of Malon the Defiant. A little oval about six feet long and four feet wide. There are many theories as to why it's there, but Laurel believes that it's the spirit of Talon, Malon's father. He was banished from his farm after Ganon took control of Hyrule. Malon was left on the farm where she gave birth to four sons from an arranged marriage. When Talon heard of his daughter's true fate at the hands of Lord Ganon, he traveled to her remains where he was so full of grief, he let himself sink into the depths of the Hyrule Field. The story of what really happened to her was lost with time.

Laurel's caravan trudged on without giving this sight much of a second glance. They saw this scene so often it didn't evoke any emotion. Neither did the hanging skeletal bodies of Malon's sons that decorated the entrance of Ingo Ranch.

Laurel was part of a company that made deliveries between Ingo Ranch and Kakariko City. She was one of five guards to three wagons. Kakariko City didn't have any room for agriculture any longer so it depended on the ranch to survive. The ranch was also protected by Lord Ganon so trade was allowed.

The caravan trekked up the final hill to the ranch. They pulled off to the side were the crates are normally waiting, but nothing was there. The group dismounted from their horses and hesitantly looked around. The ranch was always dark from the clouded sky and smelled of moss and stagnant water. The guard leader told a few to check some of the farm houses while she checked the main house. Laurel was instructed to look in the stables for someone to help.

The ranch was deserted. A few cucoos could be heard clucking in the distance, ravens were cawing overhead, and the occasional horse whinny echoed from the backs of the ranch. There was a row of buildings near the front, a mill, a few farmhouses, stables, chicken coop, and some other usual buildings.

An eerie wind blew Laurel's brown ponytail back. She carefully peered through the window with her piercing blue eyes before entering the dilapidated stable. She couldn't see much through the dirty, clouded windows. The door opened with a chilling creak and she was greeted with an intense stench.

She looked from wall to wall for movement, the shadows could conceal anything. She stepped in slowly. There were bags of fresh grain near the door, certainly that was for her caravan, but she continued to walk inside to look for someone to verify the order.

As she approached the first stall, she was engulfed by the buzzing of flies and the metallic smell of drying blood and earthy manure. A horse lay butchered in the hay, hind legs unattached and strewn around stall, parts of its insides violently ripped apart and scattered on the floor.

Laurel held her hand to her nose. The smell was overwhelming. The next stall held a pony with misaligned eyes, a bloated chest and stomach, and an extra leg. It was laying down in the hay, struggling to breath. The next couple stalls were more dead livestock. Laurel had seen enough. She turned to leave.

But a blurry silhouette stood hunched in the doorway, illuminated slightly only by the clouded sky behind him. It was an old man with a cane. Laurel stood her ground in the shadows of the stables.

"Get your grain and get out," the hoarse voice croaked out from the old man. It was Ingo. Laurel didn't think the other guards were telling the truth when they said he was still alive! Ingo's great grandchildren now ran the ranch, but somehow he was still alive, outliving his children and some of his grandchildren.

The little Hyrulian girl tightened her lips and whistled loudly for her comrades. Another guard came running up as the ancient Ingo shuffled away. They grabbed as much grain as they could in one trip and headed back to the caravan.

A few hours passed as they loaded up the wagons with various goods. Marley, one of the wagon drivers, was staring up at a farmhouse window. Laurel followed her gaze to see that the same silhouette from the stables looking down at them.

"That's him isn't it?" Marley looked back to Laurel and asked in a whisper. Laurel nodded slowly at her. "They say he had children with some of his children. That he rapes his milkmaids and sacrifices the babies to stay alive. I didn't think Lord Ganon would keep such a miserable snake as an ally."

"Go now," a booming voice startled Laurel. Ingo was standing directly behind the girls. How he traveled down the stairs so fast was beyond comprehension.

"You always let us stay overnight," Marley protested sheepishly.

"You have outstayed your welcome," Ingo croaked. His body looked frail, just flaking skin wrapped loosely over bone, covered in liver spots and white hair. He was small, nearly two feet smaller than Laurel.

"We can't be on Hyrule Field at night!" another guard piped up, but it was too late, he was gone.

Marley looked up at the sky and panicked, "It's about four hours to sun down."

"We could possibly make it to the riverbed if we hurry," the guard leader shouted, "Let's not waste any more time. Saddle up."

The caravan did just so, hurrying from the ranch with a furious pace. The riverbed was about five hours away. As long as they reach the bridge they would be safe and the rest of the trip could be easy. The driving horses didn't need any reminders to hurry from the whip, they were just as motivated to get home as the human riders.

After a few hours of travel, the temperature dropped drastically. The horses' breath became visible plumes of condensed air. The spongey ground under their feet froze and crunched under the horses' pounding hooves. The entire caravan grew tense. They were still an hour from the river, but they kept going. A thick fog covered the ground.

The wolf spirit in the night let out a long haunting howl. It echoed across the entire field from the beyond. The sun was officially below the horizon.

Without missing even a second, stalchildren rose from their dirt beds. They lurched themselves out of the ground with a practiced ease. The mutated bones of the fallen Hyrulian soldiers immediately started to reach for the caravans.

Laurel whipped the bow from her back and loaded it with an arrow. She let it fly, aiming for a stalchild's spinal column. She didn't miss. Her fellow guards got into formation behind Laurel. They called the shot and let the arrow fly, Laurel cleaning up any uncalled roaming skeletons.

The troupe of all girls didn't waste a single arrow, hitting each target perfectly. The stalchildren were collapsing into a pile of bones with one arrow each.

The caravan kept pace, but was soon going to hit a wall of skeletons. A group of stalchildren were starting to form a line in front of the wagons. Two girls broke from the pack, raced their horses to the front, unsheathed their swords, and started slashing at the line of stalchildren.

The more they killed, the more popped up. The girls broke apart, spreading out to thin the herd. Laurel was excellent with a bow, but the stalchildren were relentless. They would pop up and immediately try to swipe anything nearby, reaching for the horses' feet or the wagon's wheels.

Suddenly, the ground shook. A giant stalchild shot out from the ground directly underneath the last caravan that Laurel was guarding. The driver and horses were launched into the air. Laurel yanked her horse to the side at the last moment, the violent change in direction was too much for the horse and he went toppling to the side and her bow flying into the air. Laurel fell onto the icy ground with a loud thud, and the distinct sound of breaking a bone. Her horse rolled onto its feet and went running off towards the darkness though before she could catch it.

One of the driving horses landed upside down onto the frozen ground and did not get back up. The other landed rather safely in a roll. Laurel saw the driver jump onto the living horse, cutting it from the harness, and riding it to the safety of the guard. She got up from the ground and her arm went limp. It was broken at the elbow. That was her sword arm. She tucked it underneath her quiver strap that ran across her chest.

The caravan was quickly disappearing into the darkness. Laurel tried to run past the giant stalchild, darting around broken crates, frozen produce, and pieces of the wagon. She couldn't get abandoned in Hyrule Field. The giant skeleton swiped at her, but she rolled out of the way. She pulled her sword hastily from the sheath with her good hand. It took another swipe. She slashed wildly, the steel connecting with bone. It didn't even phase the giant creature.

The giant stalchild took a huge swing. It connected and sent Laurel flying back. She tried to regain composure, but the ice caused her to slip. She went toppling backwards and her head directly hit the solid ground.

_"He wasn't much of a hero if he failed," the little girl protested. The tiny room was filled from wall to wall with students of all ages. All girls._

_"Oh no, he didn't fail," the teacher sat in the front of the class. They didn't have desks or books. All the students were sitting on the floor listening to their teacher tell them a story that if hear by the wrong person would have the teacher hanged in an instant. "He was just a boy, a young boy. And he stood against a tyrant. He should be an inspiration! And he was an inspiration to many, Malon the Defiant, Princess Ruto of the Zora, even Goron soldiers rallied together."_

_"And they all failed," the girl interrupted again, "That's why Lord Ganon was meant to be King of Hyrule." Laurel listened silently. She heard the story of the Hero of Hyrule many times and each time it was different, depending on who told the story. Laurel was good with a bow and arrow, but just wanted to swing a sword like the Hero of Hyrule._

Laurel's eyes focused. The giant stalchild was directly over her. It raised up a giant hand, ready to crash down onto her, when an arrow went whistling into the air. It was just enough to distract the giant beast for a second. The fallen driver rode her horse up to Laurel. Laurel rolled over and clumsily got up. She jumped onto the horse while another of her group continued to fire arrows at the giant skeleton.

They rode off into the night, Laurel slashing wildly at any remaining skeletons until they got to the riverbed.

Kakariko City was a welcome sight. The city in the valley was home for Laurel. It was nestled safely in the mountain range only accessible via a tiny crevice in the mountain's ridge. It was certainly overpopulated, but it was home. The brick buildings were built haphazardly on top of each other, going many stories high. Buildings even built over the old graveyard on stilts. Colored smoke rose from various chimneys and into the open windows of the buildings hovering over them. The old windmill used to be a focal point of the city, but was now obscured - the peak of Death Mountain was even hard to see from the middle floors. In the undercity was a well that was now fenced off when numerous women threw themselves into its depths. A permanent fog rolls out from the well but disappears if it reaches a spot where the sun can touch it.

Karkariko was filled with women, doing every sort of job possible. Men were immediately enlisted into Lord Ganon's army or discarded if they were deemed unworthy and therefore leaving Kakariko void of males. It brought about a bout of mothers who would desperately change their child's gender at birth. If this was found out later in his life though, both mother and child would be executed.

Laurel's guard leader ordered her to a healer after being berated for being careless and sloppy. Laurel walked away the group with shoulders hung low and without any pay. She trudged up and down several sets of stairs, past various gallows and tight alleyways, to reach the back of the city where an old witch was the only means of true healing, albeit controversial healing.

The witch's cabin was saturated in a pink glow. Glass vials and flasks bubbled, tinkled, and rattled around on the numerous shelves on the walls. A hauntingly beautiful song played from a magic instrument in the corner. She sat at a counter with a poignant stare.

"Do not speak, dear creature," she instructed Laurel as she stepped up to the counter. The witch's face was tight and jaundiced, wearing a serious demeanor. She reached in a bag on the counter and pulled out an unusual object. It was a bunch of river reeds tied together with twine. The witch handed it to Laurel. She gestured for Laurel to put the object to her chin and blow forward.

Laurel was about to protest, showing the witch her mangled arm, but the witch snorted, "I told you not to speak."

Laurel hesitated, wondering what blowing on this object was going to do for her arm, but she politely obeyed. She lifted the reeds to her mouth with her good arm and gently pushed air from her parted lips. Her breath was changed into a beautiful note. This was some sort of musical instrument. All music was outlawed long ago.

The witch hopped up from her seat and pointed to three reeds in sequence, then the same three again. Laurel stared for a moment before she caught on, the witch wanted her to play those notes.

She steadied the reeds and played the three notes twice. Out came a beautiful sunny melody, Laurel was compelled to keep playing. It was like her hand magically knew where to position the pan flute to keep the song going even though she's never played an instrument.

The song reminded her of the color green, the warm sun, and running water. It felt… familiar but she didn't know why.

When she was done playing the song, the witch cracked a big smile full of missing teeth. She scuttled over to the door and opened it up. Laurel and the witch stood silently for a few moments before the most beautiful thing Laurel had ever seen entered the room.

A small pink fairy whirled into the witch's hut, its tiny wings making a sweet flapping sound. It flew straight over to Laurel. She had never seen one before, but heard about them in tales. The little fairy swirl around her ankles, up to her knees, around her torso, and circled her shoulders before turning a brilliant white and zoomed straight out the door. Laurel gasped deeply as a shooting pain flared up in her arm. She heard a loud pop as her bone re-broke apart, straightened itself out, and healed back together. She could move her fingers again. The little fairy healed her arm.

The witch slammed the door closed, "That was a song lost to the ages." She shuffled back to her seat behind the counter, "It began in a forest far away from here. Thick trees protected a little tribe of people. They were the children of the forest."

The witch looked pensively off into the distance, "They're gone now. Each one. Their Guardian was killed and they were so small, and the stalfos were so numerous."

Laurel tucked the reeds into her belt pouch, so she could further inspect her arm. The witch looked over to her, "Promise me you'll go to the forest and play that song. Your skills have yet to be discovered and your destiny is bigger than guarding a bunch of carrots."

Laurel scrunched her eyes together and opened her mouth to start protesting, but the witch shushed her. She shooed Laurel from the store without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

Her skin was drenched in sweat and green goo. Laurel rolled to dodge yet another attack by the Deku Baba. Its large jaws trying to grasp at any exposed skin on the slender Hyrulian girl. She ran out of arrows long ago and was forced to resort to a short sword that was really no bigger than a dagger.

She was exhausted. This was not her first encounter with the creatures of the forest. She had been fighting for hours and her body was about to give out. Laurel was a ranger at heart and was not use to the taxing up-close encounters in swordplay.

The Deku Baba lurched its neck-like truck out and tried to chomp down on Laurel again. She learned from previous battles with these creatures that they were not very swift in picking their heavy heads back up after an attack like this, so she took her opportunity to swipe down onto its elongated neck. The plant-beast's head went bouncing away.

Laurel collapsed onto her knees, gasping for air. She looked around. The forest was dark despite it being daytime. The air was thick, humid, and hard to breathe in, it almost made her lightheaded. The forest ground was just dead grass, dried fallen leaves, and thick woven tree roots. The tree roots connected to dark black trees that had thick tangles of leafless branches. The tree's trucks were huge, thicker than most castle towers and Laurel could hardly see the tops to see how far up they could reach. The entire forest was covered in a purplish haze, like a light fog.

It was incredibly difficult to leave Karkariko on her own. She tried using the excuse of trying to find her horse, but the guards were not entertaining that idea that her horse was even still alive. Finally, she got out when she bribed a guard using everything she owned. She now had no home to go back to after this quest, but the old witch's request compelled her to venture out.

The magic she experienced in the witch's shop and seeing that fairy was too much to ignore.

Laurel only knew that the Forest was south, so south she traveled, for days. She had to sleep up in the dead trees of Hyrule field by day as she would be attacked at night. But her progress at night was slow as she spent most of her time running around and dodging Stalchildren. All night long she couldn't stand still, she spent it running. By the time she got to the forest, she was exhausted, but her situation only got harder once she was there.

The plants were all alive and wanted to kill her. Little root creatures would pop up out of the ground and beginning spitting various objects at her. Seeds would explode into a stunningly bright light. Bats would swoop down from the trees and try to claw at her.

Laurel's eyes were heavy. She was fatigued, devoid of a few days' worth of restful sleep. Her arms could barely left up.

She wanted to lay down right there and never get up. Laurel leaned over and collapsed completely, putting her head to the ground. But before she got comfortable, she heard an unusual rattle. She slowly looked around for the noise with heavy eyelids, forcing herself to lift her head to look behind her.

A shadow was standing off into the darkness, holding a lantern. The light looked like it parted the hazy purple fog. She stared at the shadow. It rattled again and gave a soft laugh. The laugh seemed to rattle around inside her head.

As if in a trance, Laurel rose from the ground and followed the lantern. The shadowy figure held it high as it darted around trees. Laurel tripped over roots and stumps while the shadow gracefully jumped over every obstacle.

She followed it for quite some time, listening to it laughing in the distance. The laugh echoed into the darkness, getting louder the farther it got. It ran into a huge hollow tree trunk that had fallen on its side. The figure was getting too far ahead, but his laugh was only getting louder. Laurel desperately tried to keep up. It turned and ran through another hollow tree and another. Each time, the light getting farther and farther away. Laurel was getting hopeless lost.

She exited the last hollow tree only to see that the lantern was gone. The shadow was nowhere to be seen. She stopped and listened. The rattle and the laughter were gone. Laurel wondered if she went the wrong way.

She turned on her heel to see that the tree that she was just standing in was gone, replaced by cliffs and trees. She looked frantically from one side to the other. The massive hollowed tree truck was just… missing.

Laurel turned again. She gasped as a huge cliff face appeared in front of her that wasn't there before. There was a noticeable fissure in the cliff that was big enough for someone to crawl into. Laurel pressed her body sideways into the rock face without another thought.

Inside, the crack opened up to a long spacious chamber. It was completely dark inside except for a tiny glowing light at the end of the chamber. Laurel moved to the light, every step making a crunching feeling under her foot like stepping on dry leaves.

As she approached the tiny light, she could start to make out a structure inside the cave. A huge shallow stone basin was lined with columns that extended up to the cavern roof. Laurel walked up a few steps to the edge of the basin, only hearing her heart beating and the tiny crunching sound under her foot.

The glowing was coming from the ground at the center of the structure. She took a few steps towards it and looked down at her feet. She could finally see what was causing the crunch beneath her boots. Laurel squatted down low towards the floor to look closer.

Tiny human shaped skeletons lined the floor. There had to be hundreds of thousands of them. The skeletons were of something incredibly small, only a few inches in size. She stood, took a few more steps until she was in the very center of the basin, and hunched down again.

The glow was coming from the cracks in the stone where stagnant water was resting. The water had a beautiful clear blue light. Laurel looked closer at the little skeletons around the water, they seemed to still be bodies. With tiny wings attached to their backs.

Laurel gasped. The room was littered with dead fairies.

The fairies were reaching for the water. Laurel touched the water softly. Besides the glow, it seemed normal. Laurel stood up.

She continued to stand still for quite some time. She was overwhelmed with emotion. This was the place where she was supposed to play the song, she could just feel it.

Laurel took out her panflute. She looked around the room at the tiny fairies and inhaled. She repeated the three notes the witch taught her which once again magically carried her into a complete melody.

As she played the song, a soft rumbling vibrated through the cave. A warm wind blew from outside air and into the cave. Water droplets dripped from the ceiling into the basin. Each droplet glittered and reflected tiny rainbows across the cave walls. From the base of the columns surrounding the basin, ivy shot up from the stone and wrapped itself around the columns. The wind was bringing in layers of dirt to cover the stone floor. Laurel continued to play as she side stepped out of the basin and back to the stairs, careful to only step where she once placed her feet before.

Leaves and flowers sprouted from the ivy right in front of her eyes, beautiful pink, purple, and white blooms. The droplets were quickly collecting and forming a pool of beautiful blue glowing water. Green grass surrounded the stone structure, grass as high as her knees.

When the song was over, Laurel stopped to look around at the now lush and breathtaking space. Laurel bent down to the water. She reached her hand into the sparkling pool. The water was warm and refreshing. She stepped off the basin into the grass. She had never felt grass before. It was surprisingly soft and cool to the touch.

Laurel let out a sweet giggle before diving right into the grass and landing with a perfect belly flop. She rolled through the cool green blades, overjoyed with laughter. Laurel had never felt more content in her life. The room was filling her with an incredible sense of peace and contentment. She sighed deeply, releasing days of stress in one breath. Her heavy eyes finally closed and allowed her restful sleep.

Laurel woke up to the sound of water dripping and a soft tinkling. She sat up from the same spot she fell asleep in, her muscles were sore from the previous days of exhaustion. She looked around the cave. The grass had spouted yellow flower buds all around the room, but none of them were yet opened. In the center of the pool a tiny orb was hovering in place.

Laurel got up from her plush bed and curiously walked closer to the little orb. It had a brilliant pink light. The closer she got, the bigger it got. When she was at the edge of the pool, the orb made a soft pop and turned into a burst of light. When Laurel's eyes refocused, a small girl was standing in the water. She looked to be about 4 or 5 years old. Her pink hair was long and draped across her body. The girl had big eyes with long eyelashes.

The girl looked at Laurel and smiled, "Hero! Thank you for saving me! My magic was nearly gone, but I knew that if I waited you would come back!" She raised her arms into the air and looked up to the ceiling. A little outfit made of ivy leaves started to grow onto her body and into her hair. The ivy twisted her hair into three braids across her head and sprouted darling little flowers to complete the look.

The little girl stepped closer to Laurel with little chubby legs. She tilted her head with concern, "But you're not the hero."

The girl circled around Laurel, staring at her with one eye like a parrot, "That's not the right sword. You have no shield. Where's the Ocarina? Your quiver is empty. That tunic is all wrong."

When she reached Laurel's front again, she looked up at her with her hands on her hips, "And your heart… No, no. Something is wrong. You need to find the real hero and wake him up!"

The little girl threw up her hands again, wide into the air. Glittering light flew from her palms and scattered around the room. The light landed on some of the flower buds that were growing in the tall grass. The buds opened to reveal bright golden blooms with dots of light in the center of each flower. The dots of light stretched themselves out and revealed a tiny set of wings.

The girl's magic opened the flowers and created fairies! The fairies excitedly zipped around the room, flying quickly from one to another. They would jingle as they flew and the noise sounded beautiful to Laurel's pointed ears.

The little pink-haired girl put down her arms with a big exhausted sigh. She then pointed to one of the fairies who immediately flew over.

"This is Ivan," the girl said to Laurel, indicating a tiny fairy with a yellow light, "He's going to guide you to the Princess. She knows where the Hero is being kept!"

Ivan circled around Laurel a few times before stopping in front of her face. She could just barely see the outline of Ivan's body that was being obscured from his bright light. He had wild brown hair and dark skin. He had a handsome face with a square jaw. He reminded her of a little piece of tree bark.

"Ivan," the pink-haired girl instructed, "Bring this one to the Princess in Gerudo Valley! Tell the Princess this one knows the song of the Forest Guardian. She'll believe you!"

Ivan nodded with excitement and flew above Laurel's head. He sat down on the ribbon of her ponytail and held onto her hair like reigns of a horse.

"Take out your flute," the girl instructed Laurel. Laurel brought out the little bits of reeds tied together with string and showed it to the girl. Once again, the girl shot glittering light from her hands and this time onto the musical instrument. The reeds turned into beautiful blue metal tubes that were welded together with a yellow band.

The girl then put a finger in the air, "Now play these notes." She sang a series of three notes over and over. Laurel could magically visually see each note in her head and could compute that knowledge to which note to play on her panflute. She repeated the notes.

This song made her smell fresh hay and feel wind on her face. When the song was done, she heard a horse whinny close by. The pink-haired girl had already turned around to talk to a group of fairies and was not paying any more attention to Laurel.

So, the Hyrulian girl followed the sound of the horse, back out of the cave. As soon as she shimmied back out of the crevice in the cliff face, she was back out in the forest. It looked the same as before. Leafless trees, grassless ground, and sunless sky.

But someone was waiting outside the cave. A horse, big and muscular. It had a beautiful golden brown coat with a white mane, white tail, and white fur above the hooves. But something was off about the horse.

As it moved, it seemed blurry, like Laurel's eyes couldn't quite focus on it. She approached it slowly, letting it sniff her hand. She put a hand to its neck to try and give it a nice scratch, but her hand couldn't touch its skin. She tried again and failed again. Her hands were going through it somehow. Laurel was confused, it was right in front of her but she couldn't touch it. Ivan even fluttered over and tried to touch the horse without success.

The horse shook its long mane and started to walk away. It stopped to look back at Laurel. Ivan sat back down on her ponytail and the two obediently followed after the ghostly horse.


End file.
